Are Couintreau and Triple SEc Interchangeable?

I am making Sangria and I usually use couintreau and brandy but just realized that the bottle of cointreau in my cabinet is Triple sec. Can I use it? Will there be any appreciable difference in the end product?

A couple of factors to consider: Cointreau is one of the costlier orange flavored liqueurs on the market, about $30/bottle. However, it has a beautiful, not overly-sweet orange flavor. If you take pride in your sangria, it might be worth spending a little more for the cup or so you need for most recipes.

I think a lot of rock-bottom Triple Secs (most of the stuff on the market) are overly sweet and hangover fodder. Then again, most sangria recipes don't require you to use a lot. I think you need to be aware of the sweetness issue: you'll need to add less additional sugar with cheap Triple Sec than you would with Cointreau.

I lately discovered Marie Brizzard Triple Sec, which while not cheap ($20/bottle), is cheaper than Cointreau, and much nicer than the $6-8 Triple Secs. I use this for my top-shelf Margaritas to good effect (I think it has a nicer orange flavor than Cointreau, my old Margarita standby).

There are some other options that are better than cheap Triple Sec: some better brands of Curacao, and some Grand Marnier knockoffs.

I love orange, and orange liqueurs, and tend to "collect" them. I currently have 10 different orange liqueurs. A thread on another site got me interested in comparing them, so I sat down over the course of a few nights and performed some methodical taste tests. If you're interested you can read it over on my blog, at http://scottesrum.blogspot.com/search...

A very valuable comparison. I've been thinking about doing something similar with the range of orange-flavored liqueurs and cordials that are available in Greater Boston: I haven't seen several of the ones you've included locally. A real inspiration, thanks!

I live just north of Boston, so all of these are available to you. The Marie Brizard Orangero may tough, since I found that in a type of "close-out" section in one store, and apparently they don't make it any more.

Where are you located that you can't get St. Teresa? I know they are new to import. Maybe I can ship you some stuff. i am a rum fanatic as well and may be able to turn you on to some new ones. i have around 70 rums at home that I have to start reviewing so they pay for themselves. Starting June I will be doing a major push on super premium rum reviews.

I'm in Massachusetts, and I don't think St Teresa is distributed in Mass. And it's illegal to ship alcohol to Mass, so I can't even order it online. I'm not worried yet - I have plenty of other rums available, and I'll keep hunting. At some point I'll get frustrated and find a way to obtain it. :-)

Thanks the reviews were helpful. Another Triple Sec that has not been mentioned here is Luxardo Triplum, about $20. The guy at my store said that it is a good alternative to Cointreau for cocktails, so I am planning to give it a try.

They have done a couple of tastings of orange liqueurs. The one that mentioned the brands used Leroux triple sec. Cointreau came in dead last two separate times, one time noting that the orange flavor of it was the faintest.

Scottes, the actual Cook's Illustrated article was of course more specific; the winner of their orange liqueur taste test was the Leroux triple sec, and they were "surprised" because it was much cheaper than Grand Marnier (they didn't say how it did) or Cointreau (which came in last, as JK said). The two recipes that they tested the orange liqueurs in were Crepes Suzette and margaritas.